"Julia?" Mrs. Russ called to me. "Here. And it's Janet, by the way." I corrected. I gave a sigh as the kids around me snickered. "Janet." Mrs. Russ laughed. I gave a weak smile out of politeness. Seriously? Julia? Like that sounds anything like Janet. It was the 2nd week of 9th grade, and I already hated it. I have none of my Junior High friends in my classes, not even lunch! Plus, IPS isn't the nicest school district to go to. It's pretty rough, and being one of the few white kids in my grade causes a lot of name calling. It's really not fun here...
     And on top of that, I am certainly not in the popular crowd. I've always been quiet and I don't have many friends. Mrs. Russ stood up and started to pass out our homework for the day. Yeah. The 2nd week and homework already. I took my paper that the teacher handed me and I blankly stared at it. What even is this? This is supposed to be a warm up for our class? I glanced up at the clock. 45 more minutes to go.
     "Alright class, you have the rest of the class period to work on this warm up homework. I know most of you might not know a lot of the problems, but do your best anyway. Good luck!" Mrs. Russ sat back down in her seat. I picked up my wooden pencil and looked at the first problem. Eventually, I filled out the packet. Of course I was the last one to finish...but that doesn't matter. The deathly bell rang, and it was time to go to lunch.